Posts from the ‘Chaka Khan’ Category

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Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan, is an American singer whose career has spanned four decades, beginning in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. Widely known as the Queen of Funk.

The entire album was produced by Arif Mardin who always knows how to bring out the best in Chaka, and get the right amount of funk, pop, jazz and soul in the mix..
The first single “Tearin’ It Up” co-written by Philly soul man Bunny Sigler (the tight, busy arrangement has his signature all over it) didn’t exactly set things on fire, but a remix by famed DJ Larry Levan got it some club play.. “Slow Dancin'” is a smouldering groove with 80s Superstar Rick James on board.. “Best In The West” has got to be one of the best Chaka tracks that never hit, this probably would have been a better first single.. She also serves up a great, soulful cover of the Jackson Five’s “Got To Be There” which shows off a much more softer side to her voice.. The “Be-Bop Medley” is also a treat, showing off her jazz improvisational skills on tunes by Theolonius Monk, John Coltrane and Dizzy Gillespie among others .. “Twisted” is another great, hypnotic 80s groove record..
Overall “Chaka Khan” is an excellent, consistent record. It’s one of those albums that has great songs, but perhaps few that would have made great singles…

Side one
1. Tearin’ It Up (6:39)
2. Slow Dancin’(featuring Rick James) (5:22)
3. Best In The West (4:00)
4. Got to Be There (4:00)

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Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan, is an American singer whose career has spanned four decades, beginning in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus.

Destiny was Khan’s follow-up to the platinum-selling I Feel for You and was as high tech as its predecessor—symptomatically and characteristically for its period with more producers and sound engineers credited in the liner notes than musicians—but was musically more geared towards rock and pop than soul and R&B, most prominently on tracks such as “So Close”, the self-penned title track “My Destiny”, “Who’s It Gonna Be” and “Watching the World” featuring Phil Collins on drums and backing vocals.

The album spun off five single releases, the first being “Love of a Lifetime“, co-written, co-produced and featuring backing vocals by Green Gartside of British band Scritti Politti. The second single “Tight Fit” was a midtempo R&B ballad, just like “Eye to Eye” from I Feel for You produced by Russ Titelman. The satirical “Earth to Mickey” (When are you going to land?), featuring Khan both singing and rapping (and keyboardist Reggie Griffin rapping in the role of ‘Mickey’), was released as the third single in early 1987. The dramatic ballad “The Other Side of the World”, written by Mike Rutherford of Genesis and B. A. Robertson and which had first been released as part of the White Nights soundtrack album in late 1985. The fifth single “Watching the World” never charted. Destiny however gave Khan another Grammy nomination in 1987 for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female. The track “My Destiny” was used as the theme song for Richard Pryor‘s motion picture Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling.
The closing track, the heavily edited one minute thirty-nine seconds “Coltrane Dreams”, a tribute to John Coltrane, had a backing track mainly made up of samples of Khan’s voice.

Side one
1. Love Of A Lifetime (4:20)
2. Earth To Mickey (5:37)
3. Watching The World (4:42)
4. The Other Side Of The World (3:39)
5. My Destiny (4:38)

Side two
1. I Can’t Be Loved (4:30)
2. It’s You (4:17)
3. So Close (4:17)
4. Tight Fit (4:37)
5. Who’s It Gonna Be (4:35)
6. Coltrane Dreams (1:38)